Many Parents Worry Over Teen's Online Privacy and Future Repercussions

By SheSpeaksTeam Dec 31, 2012

As parents have watched their children’s web use sky rocket in recent years with the constant use of SmartPhones, Facebook, Twitter, etc., many are voicing concern over privacy and feel at a loss on how to keep tabs on what their teens are doing online. Time magazine reports about a Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project findings that suggests a whopping 72% of parents are worried that their kids are interacting with strangers online and putting things out there that can hurt their future employment or academic careers.

It makes sense parents are worried about their kid’s online reputation becoming a problem in the future when it was recently reported that college admissions officers do a good deal of online research on prospective students, including analyzing their Facebook accounts. What your child posts about at age 15 may become a deciding factor in whether they are admitted to the colleges they apply for.

Interestingly, though the majority of parents show concern over their child’s online privacy, only 39% report helping their teen turn on privacy settings on various websites.

But maybe parents are keeping tabs in a different way. About 80% of parents say they have “friended” their children on Facebook, whether their teens liked it or not. One 14-year-old boy involved in the survey voiced his dismay of interacting with his parents on Facebook saying, “The day my father gets on Facebook is the day I’ll be out of Facebook.” But other teens involved in the report say co-habiting with parents on Facebook is no big deal and actually kind of cool.

What do you think of the new survey that reveals the majority of parents are worried about their teen’s online privacy and future implications from their social media use?

What steps have you taken to keep your teens in check online?